Snow plowing in residential and commercial areas has become a fine art, and is practiced by contractors on a seasonal or individual job basis. Plow assemblies are designed for attachment to standard vehicles-usually pick-up trucks. Lifting and positioning of the plow blade is usually done with hydraulic actuators operating on pressure generated by a pump driven by the vehicle engine. Occasionally, electric screw jacks are used.
A drag plow is often mounted on the back of the vehicle as a supplement to the action of the front-mounted principal plow. The vehicle is backed up to an obstruction with the plow raised. It is then lowered. A typical use of the drag plow is in pulling snow away from a wall or a garage door far enough for the operator to then swing the vehicle around and move the snow off to the side with the main plow. The load on this type of plow is thus relatively light. In the interest of saving time, these plows have been designed for lateral extension from a retracted central position to an extended position sweeping a path about twice as wide. The conditions under which these plows operate dictate that simplicity and ruggedness are a prime requirement.